Megan Marie Penney (l.) and Paige Lynn Johanningmeier (r.) have been charged with sexual exploitation by a counselor, therapist or school employee after they were arrested Tuesday.

Two Iowa nursing assistants are facing charges for allegedly having sex with patients at a Residential Care Facility.

Police in Fayette were first alerted when employees at Prairie View Residential Care Facility contacted them on Feb. 21 to report that two patients, who had been court ordered to be housed at the facility, had suddenly walked away, the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier reports.

As officers were investigating the disappearances, they discovered that two nursing assistants, Megan Marie Penney, 26, and Paige Lynn Johanningmeier, 23, had been seen with the missing people after they had left the facility. Both Penney and Johanningmeier had been employed by Prairie View, police say